Pillar Of Destiny

[05.05.00] » by Alhazred

Notes: Special thanks to Morrigan who quelled my paranoia that I was ripping off her fic "Shades Cast" with the whole 'Kain perspective' thing. :)

Kain sat on the arm of his once grand throne, the Soul Reaver's handle laying on his own arm and the tip of the blade in the chair. He almost looked like he was vegetating, but the expression on his face told otherwise.

Lord Kain was tired. He was regretful. That fateful day at the Pillars... he was thinking about it even now...

At my whim... my whim indeed... damning Nosgoth to this... and yet I would have done nothing differently if the opportunity to do it again presented itself...

And in actuality, that choice was available to him. But for the few seconds that he considered using Moebius' Chronoplast to go back in time and tell himself to choose the sacrifice, he realized it put him between a rock and a hard place.

Had he restored the Pillar of Balance, Nosgoth would go to the humans... not what he wanted. Kain had wanted to make a world, an empire, where vampires could be free of human prejudices and hatreds, where they could live without fear of the Sarafan hunting them.

And I succeeded... for a time...

His empire once flourished in the unbalanced wastes of Nosgoth. His sons had their clans, noble vampires who had more character and decency then the humans could ever dream of. And his sons themselves were former Sarafan... But then he found the Chronoplast...

A wonderful thing, knowing the future. Knowing that the world would decay, that my sons and their clans would go with it...

But then that wasn't all thee was... there was Raziel.

Ah yes... Raziel. My narrow minded first-born... well, it isn't your fault, you have no idea. Thinking me jealous of your wings... heh, if I was I would have killed you long before you grew them and wouldn't have had to go through the trouble of building any acting skills for that day. I knew it would happen... I knew the morning before I executed you, and I knew not long after I resurrected you from the tomb. Hmmm... you don't even know you were a Sarafan yet, that's right...

But you're playing right into my little drama. You've killed Melchiah, and you'll kill the others. Except Turel... Turel isn't in your way. I wonder if maybe you'll go after him later after you know the whole story...

Hash'ak'gik was another possible factor... The Elder, The Unspoken... whatever he choose to call himself... that was another thing Kain learned from the time machines, how Hash had spun the souls of the dead through Nosgoth's wheel of fate since the beginning of time. That piece of information had enlightened Kain to the Elder's motives when he possessed Mortanius millennia ago; he was simply taking matters into his own hands. He didn't actually care that vampires were different, he cared that they stopped him from doing his job and he took action. But his plan failed...

Heh, Ariel... I wonder if you've ever realized that the demon that destroyed your balance, that I was manipulated to defeat... was in fact the biggest symbol and practitioner of Balance that Nosgoth had ever seen...

And Vorador... I once called you a decadent old fool... yet I half-chose to damn Nosgoth because I was angry at your slaying. Maybe I'll see you again before this is all said and done...

Kain snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the door to the throne room open. He'd known it would occur at that very second, but his thoughts had caused him to lose track of time. He knew who it was, that in the large room he wouldn't be readily visible for the first few steps the newcomer took.

Lord Kain was tired. He was regretful. But all he could do was play the role that he had since he found out what the future would hold if he did. And then he wouldn't have to be regretful anymore, because things would hopefully be fixed. But still, he was tired. And it would take him a moment to gather the will to play his part like a good actor instead of an exhausted, worn out one. Still, he couldn't break his mental fatigue in time for the first words out of his mouth...

"Raziel... the abyss has been unkind."

***

Notes that would have spoiled the fic if they were at the top

Short but sweet ^^; A conversation with a friend mentioned how Kain looked and sounded worn out when you first see him at the Pillars. After I beat the game, I came up with a theory as to why. Also, some if this is my interpretation of things (like the Elder being Hash and having always had the job of spinning the wheel of fate.) The purpose of Kain's actions being ultimately to restore balance was discussed a few times around the LoK community.

Also, I rewrote the line when Kain mentions Vorador a few times to escape contradictions with LoK 3. Kain says "maybe" because it's possible the next game will feature Vorador, even if it does Kain will likely not have a conversation with him, hence why he says "seeing" instead of "meeting."